Dialog: Movie

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Dialog: Movie

Movie

When you continuously-cycle a model in MechDesigner, commercial video-recording software may not record each step in a machine-cycle. Also, it is difficult to record exactly one machine-cycle. Make-Movie solves these problems.

Movie and File-Types

Use File menu > Movie to:

•record and save a movie as a GIF file-type

or

•record and save a sequence of images as JPEG, JPG, PNG, and BMP file-types

We append a number to each image. The numbers are 000, 001, 002, ... Number-of-Frames

or

•save one image - a snapshot of the model.

Note:

The GIF file-type produces a large file when the movie's frame-size and/or the number-of-frames is large.

Top-Tip:

Do not append the file-name with a number.

Movie dialog

Make-Movie dialog

Make-Movie dialog

You should see a rectangle in the graphic-area. You will record everything inside the rectangle.

The rectangle is the Frame.

Usually, edit the size and position of the Frame.

tog_minus Frame Size and Position 

MD-Dialog-MakeMovie-FrameSizePosition

1.Use the Pre-select a Frame Size... drop-down list-box to select a typical frame size.

OR

1.Edit Width and Height to the frame.

2.Edit the Left and Top of the frame.

The rectangle in the graphic-area should now be where you want to record.

tog_minus File-name and File-type 

MD-Dialog-MakeMovie-FilenameFiletype

1.Click the File-name and file-type... buttonRed-14-3 (at the bottom of this separator)

In the Windows® Save as dialog:

a.Browse to a File-path and enter a File-name

b.Use the Save as type list-box to select a file-type.

c.Click the Save button

Important: read Movie and File-type

The File-path and File-name are now in boxesRed-14-1Red-14-2.

tog_minus Make Movie... 

MD-Dialog-Movie-MakeMove

1.Edit the Number-of-Frames box (Default = 30 Frames, Minimum=5 ; Maximum=10000)

2.Edit the Start-Angle ( Default = 0 ;  Minimum > 0, Maximum ≤ Machine End-Angle )

3.Edit the End-Angle ( Default = 360 ; 720 ≥ Maximum > Minimum)

4.Select

oInclude Last Frame , or

oExclude Last Frame

Experiment! View the movie in your Video Player to see if there is a stutter at the end of the movie.

Make Movie button

5.Click the button

When you click the button:

a)We move the model to the Start-Angle.

b)We compile the movie (GIF file-type), or save the images (PNG, JPG, BMP file-types), at equal increments of the machine-angle, from the Start-Angle to the End-Angle.

Please wait while we save for you the file(s) to your PC / Laptop.

OR

Single Shot button

5. Click the button

When you click the button, we save for you a Single Snapshot of the model at the active Master-Machine Angle.

To compile the images as a movie.

To compile PNG images as a movie, I use Avidemux 2.6 - a free tool that you can download from the internet. My lawyer tells me I cannot recommend it.

In Avidemux 2.6:

1.Open the first image in the sequence of images - for example, Hinge-A000.png

Open the first image only. Avidemux2.6 automatically imports the other images in the numbered sequence.

2.Save the movie with the MP4 movie format.

Save the Movie file with the same frame-size as the recorded images.

MP4, with the x264 codec, is the recommended format for YouTube®.